Outboard
equipment - "Toys" to use the technical term - I love
them. Big ones, small ones, red ones, blue ones, (thank you,
Dr.Seuss!), and especially ones with lots of colourful knobs on
them, and big flashy displays. Walk into any studio, and, within
seconds of working out how many channels the desk has, your eyes
will be drawn to the outboard rack. Wow, look at that chunky red
Focusrite. And yes that JoeMeek green paint really is outrageous.
And just look at the size of that DSP4000 display! (adopts Beavis
& Butthead voice:) YYYesss!! But hang on a minute, I feel a
certain chocolate-bar advert coming on: "Hello! Norm's the
name!" Yes folks, the sensible brigade have arrived, in the
shape of LA Audio. What could look more boring and businesslike than
LA Audio's new and very grey-looking Millennium Series?

Despite
the name, it would seem that there is nothing American, glamorous or
West-Coast about LA Audio. The parent company is SCV London, and the
units are made in the UK. They are named the MLX2 dual mic/line
preamplifier, the GCX2 dual compressor/gate, the EQX2 dual 3 band EQ,
and the MPX1 multi processor.

Unfortunately the latter shares its
name with the latest Lexicon multi-fx unit: I don't know why
manufacturers can't think up proper names for their products. Why
not a "Tweaker" or a "Knobulator"?! Well, in
this instance, perhaps, those names would be inappropriate. These
are seriously boring professional pieces of equipment, with nothing
humorous about them at all. That is why they are finished matt
aluminium and grey paint. All the knobs are black and rubbery (no
snickering!), like sensible shoes, with good markers indicating
their position. The buttons are small and black.

Despite the Series'
low price, the image generated is that of no-nonsense gear, designed
and built to high specifications. And despite my intro, I really
like this serious look. It is neat and tidy, and in no way
distracting. The manuals are also grey and black: small format
booklets which straightforwardly and comprehensively explain every
feature. Applications are suggested, concepts explained, block
diagrams presented. There are even graphics of the front panel for
noting settings - marvellous news for Total Recall fans.

Each
unit is a standard 1U rackmount, a surprisingly shallow 15cm,
compact and light. Power supplies are onboard, which is good news.
No power switches are provided, but that's okay: I hate walking into
a studio where half of the outboard gear is powered down. A green
LED glows on the front panel indicating the presence of power.
Connection is via a standard IEC mains lead. Units are pre-set for
the voltage of the country where the unit is marketed. Costs have
been saved by omitting any external voltage switch, although
internal adjustment is possible.

All
units feature outputs at -10dBV on balanced TRS (tip-ring-sleeve)
sockets - stereo jacks to you and me - and XLR sockets at +4dBu. No
fiddly rear panel switches for level changing. Most feature similar
inputs, although the MLX2 and MPX1 have Mic inputs on XLR and Line
and DI on jacks. All units except the GCX2 include Clip LEDs which
light a sensible 3dBs before maximum level.

MLX2

This
is a very simple and straight forward unit with all the connectors on
the back except DI inputs, which are on the front. There are buttons
for input selection, phantom power, and phase which is useful and
not featured on most budget consoles. An input gain knob has a good
range and the output pot has 20dB cut or boost with centre détente.
The filter is 2nd order (12dB/8ve) variable high pass adjustable
from 25Hz to 250Hz. This is useful in many circumstances, but
particularly for reducing unwanted noise when recording vocals. The
DI input is buffered by a high impedance amplifier. The signal then
bypasses the input gain pot and goes straight into the line amp.
This is useful for electric guitar for example, where if you
connected directly to a microphone input much of the HF content
would disappear due to loading down of the signal. The unit sounded
clean and neutral, and is ideal for connection directly to any type
of recorder.

GCX2

Each
channel features a compressor and a gate, and the two channels can
be linked. The back panel includes a sidechain insert jack socket
for each channel. This is again a TRS jack, but not balanced:
usefully, the input signal is sent on the ring so you can externally
process it before returning it on the tip. The compressors feature
threshold, ratio and gain knobs, there is a button for slow or fast
auto attack and release, and one for bypass. A meter displays gain
reduction. The gates' controls simply comprise threshold and release
knobs and bypass switches. An LED lights to show gate open. A stereo
link button defeats all of Channel 2's controls and LEDs, and
control voltages from both channels' inputs (or sidechains) are
combined. I would have preferred to have retained independent
control of all bypass switches and especially the gain controls in
this mode. The two auto modes for the compressors worked well in
most situations, but I felt that the slow release was a little bit
too slow. Also I would have preferred separate switches for Attack
and Release, as implemented on the latest unit, the MPX1. I often
like a slow attack with a fast release. However, at this price, this
is a minor niggle. The gates work very well, with attack time quoted
as less than 1mS, and range as -80dB. The attack is excellent, with
no horrible click on most program material, and the release time
range of 30mS to 3S is more than adequate. In bypass mode, all
sections' LEDs glow as normal, except more dimly, which is helpful.

EQX2

This
dual three-band EQ can be linked to make one six-band mono unit at
the push of a button. Unfortunately, they put the button on the
back, which is no use at all when you have mounted the unit in a
rack. A green LED glows on the front to indicate Mono mode, but that
is of little consolation. Each band has a generous 15dB boost and
cut, and a wide range sweeping frequency control. The latter is only
marked to indicate the frequency at each end of its range - a number
in the middle would have been helpful. Between these knobs are tiny
Q (bandwidth) knobs. These small back plastic-topped pots are barely
bigger than the little pushbuttons, and it is quite difficult to see
where they are set. They are very powerful, going from a very narrow
notch of 1/12th Octave to 3 Octaves. Each channel includes a clip
LED, bypass button and 75Hz high pass filter which remains operative
even when the bypass is in, so there is a slight potential for
cock-up. No shelving capability is included, but the wide ranging Q
control almost obviates the need for this. Sound quality and clarity
is excellent for a budget unit, and at this price who could resist
having two units for stereo six-band operation?

MPX1

This
is the latest and most complex model in the range. It is a mono
unit, specifically designed to cope with any processing you might
need between vocal or instrument mic and recording unit, be it
analogue or digital. First there is a Mic/Line/DI input section with
all the features of the MLX2. This is followed by a compressor
section which incorporates a simple one-knob expander to reduce
extraneous noise. The compressor boasts separate fast/slow switches
for attack and release auto settings, plus also a DS switch which
inserts a boost at 8kHz into the sidechain. The four-band EQ section
has fixed frequency shelving above 12kHz and below 80Hz, with two
fully parametric sweepable bands in-between. There is a bypass
switch, and also a 12kHz lowpass filter. The output section has a
level trim knob, and meters for output level and gain reduction, the
latter activated by either the compressor or the expander. The meter
LEDs are dimmed when the compressor is bypassed. The back panel is
quite a surprise, with no less than eleven jack connectors, as well
as XLR input and output. The sockets allow you to patch separately
into each of the four sections of the unit, allowing you to connect
the elements in any order. There is also a sidechain connection for
the compressor, and a link socket to connect two MPX1s for true
stereo-linked compression. There is now a resurgence of do-all units
such as this, many reminiscent of the old A& D Vocal Stressor,
but this is certainly the best-value one I have come across.

Conclusion

A
5 Year warranty is included, which is unheard of in the studio gear
market. Build quality is very high - despite their diminutive size
they feel solid, and all the controls feel satisfying.
Astonishingly, for what you get these boxes are very, very cheap.
They are not top-of-the range by studio standards, but are aimed
mainly at the undoubtedly lucrative and recently-expanding project
studio market, where I am sure they will succeed. In most
situations, these units will quietly, and boringly, do whatever you
ask of them. I just hope they get noticed!